Progressive sustainability will play a key role in the line’s future, said Christophe Colloc, head of the regional office for the company’s Southern, Eastern African, and Indian Ocean Islands.

Speaking at the French shipping company’s 40th anniversary celebrations in Kempton Park recently, Colloc reflected on the vision of Jacques Saadé who started the company in 1978 with one ship and four employees.

Forty years after the launch of that first micro-route between Marseilles and Beirut, the company employed 34 000 people in more than 160 countries, he said.

Colloc furthermore remarked that it was particularly insightful to remember that Saadé started the company when he fled from a war-torn country to provide succour for his family.

“It’s with the same courage and determination that CMA CGM looks to the future, ready to be sustainable in the face of challenges such as the IMO’s 2020 sulphur cap,” he said.